Prescription abuse demands action

Families across the United States - including right here in the mid-Hudson Valley - know all too well that illegal prescription drug use has been on the rise, and it can decimate people, especially young adults.

Something must be done to curb this menacing problem. New York is moving forward with one ambitious strategy that should help, though no one is expecting it to be a total fix.

Families in particular have to pay more attention here, making sure their loved ones aren't abusing these drugs and denying access to those who weren't prescribed the medications.

The state Attorney General's office has released a report showing that the number of painkillers being prescribed has increased from 16.6 million in 2007 to nearly 22.5 million in 2010. Since 2007, prescriptions for hydrocodone in New York have increased 16.7 percent, while prescriptions for oxycodone have increased 82 percent.

A recent article in the Poughkeepsie Journal highlighted the tragedies that stem from the this problem and brought those realities much closer to home. Dr. Kari Reiber, Dutchess County medical examiner and acting health commissioner, recently stated that 12 overdose-related deaths in 2010 were caused by prescription drugs. In 2011, the number increased to 17 and in 2012, the number increased to 27.

Furthermore, prescription drug abuse is costing the state millions of dollars. The state's Medicaid program spent over $1 billion on controlled substance prescriptions over the past four years - and the state also has to spend considerable amounts of money identifying and prosecuting cases of fraud.

Though 49 states, including New York, do have a prescription monitoring program, New York does not require mandatory reporting of prescriptions by doctors. New York is one of only a few states that has not required at least weekly reporting. That's completely absurd but thankfully is about to change.

The system, called the Internet System for Tracking Over-Prescribing (I-STOP), will be a real-time prescription drug database. It will enable the state to track the prescribing and dispensing of drugs. It will require medical personnel to review a patient's prescription history before writing prescriptions and require them to immediately report when prescriptions are being given out.

Some critics say that the database will make no difference - if people want to get their hands on drugs, the database won't stop them. Teens will still steal drugs from their parents' medicine cabinets and, if the database does deter users, it'll simply steer them toward street drugs. Of course the system won't be a perfect solution, but the database will provide a way for law-enforcement officials, doctors and pharmacists to track illicit prescription drug usage.

As is, New York doctors and pharmacies have no way of knowing whether they are being used to overprescribe drugs to an addict - or whether drug traffickers are using them for their illegal business.

Attorney General Eric Schneiderman has pushed for this database, pointing out that the state has had to prosecute cases in which people were able to forge hundreds of prescriptions and arranged for them to be filled at pharmacies throughout the state. Such practices must be halted. The government has to do its job, but so does the rest of the community to bring down these alarming numbers.

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Prescription abuse demands action

Families across the United States ? including right here in the mid-Hudson Valley ? know all too well that illegal prescription drug use has been on the rise, and it can decimate people, especially